Habitat characteristics

Purple pitcher-plant characteristically occurs in bogs, savannas, andflatwoods. The very wettest parts of bogs are favored, oftenrestricting the species to the edges of bogs [18]. Purple pitcher-plant formsdense, floating mats on the water at the edges of bog ponds and lakesand across acid streams [9,12,22]. Along the Gulf Coast Sarraceniaspecies are often associated with Sphagnum, sundew (Drosera sp.),butterwort (Pinguicula sp.), pipewort (Eriocaulon sp.), bladderwort(Utricularia sp.), grass-pink (Calopogon sp.), burmannia (Burmanniasp.), and other genera characteristic of acid sites [18].

Purple pitcher-plant is adapted to poor soils that are deficient in traceelements such as molybdenum. These elements may be obtained from thecaptured insects and amphibians [19]. Soils are usually highly acidicand unsuitable for many other plants. Purple pitcher-plant, however, does notrequire acidic soils for growth, and it occasionally occurs in alkalinemarl bogs around the Great Lakes [22,23]. Both ombrotrophic andminerotrophic peat sites are occupied [3].